


to the home of the heart (to the greatest gift)

by jjokkiri



Series: 12 days of jjokkiristmas [1]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Blind Date, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 07:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13072239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjokkiri/pseuds/jjokkiri
Summary: Many years after graduating high school and losing contact with a boy he’d fooled around with, Kihyun finds them crossing paths again—and he can’t quite decide if it’s inconvenient or the best thing that’s ever happened to him.





	to the home of the heart (to the greatest gift)

“You’re joking, right?” Yoo Kihyun asked, baffled expression on his face as he looked up, at the taller man leaning over his kitchen island. Chae Hyungwon, his best friend since their freshman year of university, arched an eyebrow at him, watching as Kihyun absently rolled out the fondant onto a floured surface without looking at it (and instead looking directly at Hyungwon, _completely unimpressed_ ).

But, upon being presented with the idea that he had to show up to a Christmas party (held by his best friend) with a date, certainly there couldn’t be anyone who would be pleased. Especially not when he was being reminded that he was so terribly single and probably wouldn’t be able to actually find a date before the party. The party was in a week, and Kihyun had genuinely believed that Hyungwon was joking about the whole _‘plus one’_ thing, until the taller man waltzed into his kitchen and asked him about his date.

Taking them to this moment, where Kihyun sincerely considered bashing Hyungwon in the face with his rolling pin and watching in satisfaction as the white fondant smeared all over his pretty face. (But, surely, Hyungwon’s boyfriend wouldn’t be very happy with him if he actually followed through with his whims.)

“Of course not,” Hyungwon replied, frowning. Then, he pushed himself up off the counter, brows furrowing as he rested his weight on his forearms, staring at Kihyun (seemingly shocked, despite Kihyun’s firm belief that Hyungwon shouldn’t be surprised in the slightest). “Have you not looked for a date at all?”

“No, of course not. The whole idea of this couple party? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of, and you talk _a lot._ ” Kihyun told him, mirroring the frown. “Why do we actually have to bring a date, when we’re all going to be getting hammered, anyway?” Kihyun raised an eyebrow, reaching into the bowl of red and green sprinkles and scattering them across the thin sheet of fondant, before picking up the rolling pin. “Why can’t I go with Jooheon? He’s not dating anyone and he’s not claimed by anyone. We can just go together.”

“I made Minhyuk set him up on a blind date,” Hyungwon told him, proudly. “So, now you can’t go with him. He’s going to be coming to the party with a date. Just like how you should.”

“What kind of Christmas party is so focused on couples? I haven’t had a boyfriend since high school,” Kihyun replied, rolling the sugar paste into a thin sheet on top of the cookies he’d taken out of the oven before Hyungwon casually barged into his apartment (with a key Kihyun couldn’t really recall giving him). “But, even then, he wasn’t even a boyfriend—just someone I kind of fooled around with. So, what you expect of me is absolutely ridiculous. Are you just trying to rub it in that you and Hyunwoo have been dating for three whole years, now?”

“Of course not,” Hyungwon replied, feigning hurt at Kihyun’s accusation. “Why would I rub something like that in your face? What do you think of me?”

“The worst best friend in the world,” Kihyun replied, pretending to reach for the sprinkles in the dish beside his cookies, threatening to throw them into Hyungwon’s face.

“You’re contradicting yourself—best and worst can’t be used together. You love me,” Hyungwon quipped.

Kihyun rolled his eyes and made the move to actually reach for the sprinkles to throw at his best friend. Hyungwon was faster and his hand shoved itself into the bowl of powdered sugar, which Kihyun had been using for the fondant, holding a powdery white hand to Kihyun—threatening.

“You’re so annoying,” Kihyun replied, struggling against the taller man’s surprisingly tight grip—trying his best to get away from the sugary hand that was held in front of his shirt.

“You’re so _difficult_ about loving me,” Hyungwon answered and Kihyun made a face. And just when he was about to make a snarky remark, they were interrupted.

Kihyun’s roommate, Im Changkyun, poked his head into the kitchen with a towel over his damp hair—having just left the shower—and he arched an eyebrow at the loudly bickering pair at the kitchen island. Blinking quickly at the compromisingly messy situation he found his roommate and said roommate’s best friend in, Changkyun flashed Hyungwon a smile and waved his hand, casually.

“Hey, when did you get here?” he asked, as if there wasn’t a disaster unfolding in front of him between the two best friends. Hyungwon withdrew the sugar-filled hand that was threatening to shove white dust into Kihyun’s shirt and turned to look at Changkyun, bright smile on his lips as if he were innocent.

“A little while ago,” Hyungwon replied, “Sometime from when you got into the shower and now, I guess.”

Walking past them, Changkyun moved to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water and the pair watched his movements (while Kihyun tried to brush the flour out of his hair, keeping his eyes on his reflection in the metal surface of the refrigerator). Opening the cap, Changkyun seemed to notice their eyes on him and he blinked, curiously when he turned around, slowly bringing to bottle to his lips.

“Is something wrong?”

Hyungwon shook his head, “Changkyun, you should come to my Christmas party.”

“Changkyun, don’t do it,” Kihyun warned. Changkyun frowned.

“When is it? Why is Kihyun hyung warning me not to go?”

“Because he’s a killjoy,” Hyungwon replied, “It’s next week. You have to bring a date, though.”

“A date?” Changkyun repeated, frown deepening. “Is this some fancy banquet hall dinner party? Why do I have to bring a date? Like, a _‘plus one’_? Or a real _date_?”

“No, it’s at my house,” Hyungwon answered. “But, the rule is that you have to bring a date.”

Changkyun turned to look at Kihyun, blinking slowly. “You’re going, right? How about we just be each other’s date? That way, we’re killing two birds with one stone, and we’re probably dodging the ten bullets that Hyungwon hyung would probably try to pull at us.”

Kihyun looked eager to agree, but Hyungwon immediately cut them off with a screech.

“No! You can’t be _his_ date! You’re going with Minhyuk!” Hyungwon exclaimed. Changkyun looked taken aback by the sudden outburst, eyes wide in surprise. The mention of Minhyuk—Lee Minhyuk, a mutual friend of theirs, whom Changkyun was rather certain wasn’t the fondest of him—had the youngest confused. Not to mention that he’d just found out about the party, so technically, it was impossible for him to have already attained a date.

“Minhyuk hyung?”

“Yes,” Hyungwon said, briskly. “He already claimed you. He said that if you’re going to the party, then he’s going to ask you to be his date. He didn’t tell you, but he said that if you go, he’s going to ask you. So, you’re going to be his date. You’re his. And Kihyun needs to go find someone else who can take him to the party!”

It must have been the phrasing of Hyungwon’s outburst that had Changkyun’s cheeks dusting a light pink colour, but the youngest oddly nodded his head and backed out of the kitchen, slowly. Kihyun gave his best friend a sidelong glance and Hyungwon barely met his eyes. Then, together, the two older men watched the twenty-four year old boy awkwardly back out of the kitchen, unsure of what to say to the boy who didn’t know what to say to them.

“You scared him,” Kihyun pointed out, when Changkyun was out of earshot. Hyungwon sighed.

“I’m passionate about playing Cupid. For everyone,” he replied. Kihyun glanced at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Hyungwon’s composure returned almost immediately and he smirked, “It means that I know my best friend so well, that I knew you wouldn’t have found a date by now. So, I went ahead a scheduled you a blind date with one of Hyunwoo’s friends. Hyunwoo says he’s super sweet and we both think you’ll like him a lot. They go to the same gym, so… _you know what that means_.”

“… They get unlimited towels, together?” Kihyun tried, blatantly attempting to ignore the fact that he’d been set up on a blind date, with the one fact that Hyunwoo loved to stress about his gym membership (apparently, free unlimited towels was a very exciting topic for gym junkies).

Hyungwon glowered at him, _“No…”_

“Then, what does it mean?”

“It means you’re going on a date with a nice, built man,” Hyungwon concluded, grinning proudly.

Kihyun arched an eyebrow, “Okay, but when did I say I was going to go?”

“You’re going,” Hyungwon said. “I said so. I already scheduled a reservation under my name.”

“Shouldn’t you have asked me, first?” Kihyun frowned at the taller man in disapproval.

“I knew you would have said _‘no’_ ,” he answered. “He’s a nice guy, I promise. It’s rude to stand someone up, so just go for the sake of his friendship with Hyunwoo, and for me?”

Kihyun rolled his eyes back at the mock-innocent plea from the younger man and he shook his head, remaining silent. But, both of them were well aware that if Kihyun wasn’t willing to argue with Hyungwon using his voice, then he was already giving in to whatever the younger man was asking for. Despite all the banter, everyone knew that Hyungwon was Kihyun’s best friend for a reason—and if it was simply because he loved him, then so be it.

Breaking the silence between them, though, Hyungwon leaned over the counter with a sickeningly sweet smile on his face. He brought a slender hand up to cradle his best friend’s face, his other hand running his fingers through Kihyun’s dark grey locks, “I just want the best for my favourite single grandmother.”

“Changkyun!” Kihyun called, suddenly, peeking his head out of the kitchen. Kihyun’s roommate responded from inside the living room with a shout in response. “Come here and show Hyungwon the door, please!”

 

 

 

Despite all the arguing and the insistence that he definitely wouldn’t go on a blind date for the sake of a stupid party, Kihyun did find himself in his bedroom with his best friend and their mutual friend, Minhyuk, half a week later. There was something about saying _‘no’_ to Hyungwon, because he always meant well, even if he didn’t have the best methods of putting all of his plans into motion. It would be different, if this entire date wasn’t surrounded by the idea that he might be ruining Hyungwon’s boyfriend’s relationship with a friend, if he blew the date off.

Hyungwon was more than thrilled when he texted Kihyun in the morning, just before he’d left for work, about the date and had received a positive answer about whether or not he was going to be letting him style his hair for the date. For the first time in his many years of working at the office, Kihyun had written up an early leave notice and handed it to his boss (who had been so shocked that Kihyun needed to leave early that she’d just granted it in the blink of an eye, because he was easily their most diligent employee).

“So, you’ve never been on a date?” Minhyuk asked, grinning as he laid out Kihyun’s ties on the bed. There was an adorable note of excitement in his tone, but Kihyun would never admit it aloud.

“Not really,” Kihyun replied, shrugging as he looked at the assorted ties laid out. He picked up the dark red tie, making a face. “I’m not going to wear this one.”

Minhyuk glanced at him, “Yeah, I was going to say your options are anything _except_ that.”

“You have bad taste,” Hyungwon quipped, cheekily. Kihyun threw the tie at him. It hit him directly in the face.

“Only Minhyuk can judge me,” he retorted. It was fair, considering that their entire circle of friends consisted of business majors and a single person who decided to minor in fashion—that one person being Lee Minhyuk (obviously outlining the reason why Kihyun trusted him with dressing him for the date).

“I’ve been judging you for the six years we’ve known one another.”

“You’re so dumb,” Kihyun drawled, running his fingers through his styled locks, careful to not mess up the neat waves which Hyungwon had diligently put into his hair with careful, nimble fingers. He didn’t need to say it for Hyungwon to know that he was genuinely grateful for the two of his friends helping him prepare for what was the first date he could ever recall going on.

Making up his mind, Minhyuk chose a dark grey tie to pair with the white blazer he’d given Kihyun and draped it around the younger man’s neck, silently moving to make a fancy knot with the tie around his neck. Kihyun tilted his head, watching Minhyuk’s deft fingers move in their reflection.

“Well, your tie is ugly,” Hyungwon made at face at him.

Kihyun rolled his eyes, looking at himself in the mirror when Minhyuk finally pulled away, satisfied with the complex trinity knot he’d tied. Kihyun vaguely remembered a conversation, on the night before their graduation from university, where Minhyuk decided it was appropriate to associate them with different types of knots (“If I were to label Kihyun as a type of tie knot, I’d make him a trinity knot—professional, but with character. It’s like a declaration that he’s there for business, but he’s probably okay with making out on the first date, too,” he’d said).

It was nice to see him finally be able to put his ideas into practice.

“This is the tie you bought for me, last Christmas, you piece of shit,” Kihyun retorted, tossing his best friend a sidelong glance. Clearly having not expected the response, Hyungwon’s eyes widened and he immediately shut up, clasping his hands behind his back and letting Minhyuk continue to dress Kihyun for his date. Minhyuk chuckled at their exchange, running his fingers through his dark hair.

“You can do your own makeup, right?” Minhyuk asked, arching an eyebrow at him and picking up the kohl pencil left on his dresser. Kihyun shook his head. “… I certainly can’t do it for you.”

In slight panic, both pairs of eyes turned to Hyungwon, who shook his head and waved both hands. “Eyeliner pencils scare me. I don’t want to poke his eye out before his date.”

“You were the one insistent on this,” Kihyun said. Hyungwon made a face.

There was a pregnant silence and the three of them stared at one another. _Someone_ (read: Hyungwon) had decided it was absolutely necessary for Kihyun to smoke up his eyes, because he insisted it made him look _hot_. They hadn’t really considered the fact that out of the three of them, none of them really knew how to handle makeup.

But, it seemed that the trio worked on the same wavelength when it came to quick thinking, because in unison, they shouted down the hall, _“Changkyun!”_

It took a second before there was a reaction. The sound of a door opening was heard, and then Kihyun’s roommate was standing in front of the door to Kihyun’s bedroom, headphones around his neck—it looked like he’d been gaming. It must have been slightly intimidating to see three sets of puppy eyes from fully grown men staring back at him, because Changkyun awkwardly cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow.

“… What is it?” he asked.

Minhyuk held out the eyeliner pencil to him, “Kihyun needs your help.”

Looking from the pencil in Minhyuk’s hand to Kihyun and then back, Changkyun heaved out a suffering sigh. He reached for the pencil and motioned for Kihyun to sit down on the bed, a hand tilting his roommate’s jaw up and instructing for him to close his eyes. If there was anyone in the house they could trust with eyeliner, it would be Changkyun. And truthfully, Changkyun would never admit the reason why—he’d simply look away and blame his skills on a _phase_ he had. (They all knew that he had a moment in his life where he was the edgiest teenager in the world, complete with bleach blond hair and dark eyeliner.)

When Kihyun opened his eyes again, they were accented with the dark smear of eyeliner, purposefully smudged for that _slightly-worn-and-not-actually-trying-to-be-pristine_ look (as described by Minhyuk, in awe). The clock ticked down to the moment he needed to leave the house, and despite his calm exterior, Kihyun couldn’t deny the way that his heart pounded in his chest with all of his nerves bundling up somewhere in the tips of his fingers, rendering him unable to actually know what to do with them. He fidgeted relentlessly with his tie, eyes shifting from the clock to his three friends and then down to his lap.

“You should probably leave, now,” Changkyun said, after a moment of everyone admiring his work on the very nervous Kihyun. “There’s no harm in getting there a little bit early. You never know if he’s the type to be early and sit there waiting for you.”

“There’s a reservation for a certain time,” Hyungwon told him, frowning slightly. Changkyun fixed him with an amused grin.

“Then, there’s nothing wrong with seeming a little bit eager to meet someone, is there?” he asked. Changkyun reached over and fixed the collar of Kihyun’s shirt, flashing his roommate a small smile, “I’d like it if a date of mine were to show up a little bit early rather than have to suffer the fear that they might be standing me up.”

“I guess so,” Kihyun murmured, hands moving to play with the bracelet around his wrist as he got up and off the bed he’d been sitting on. Changkyun grinned back at him, encouragingly. It settled a piece of his mind that told him that the blind date might just end up as an absolute disaster. There was just something soothing about the way Changkyun seemed to take everything in stride. It made Kihyun want.to follow right in his stream of consciousness.

“You’re going to be great,” Minhyuk told him, resting a hand on his shoulder and giving him an encouraging shake, “Blind dates can be intimidating, but I’ll be honest, who wouldn’t like you? It’s a matter of if _you_ like _him_ or not.”

“You mean it?” Kihyun asked, biting back a small smile.

“I’d call you one hell of a catch, if I didn’t already have a crush on someone,” Minhyuk chuckled. Changkyun flashed him two thumbs up, after casting Minhyuk a strange look.

And he had to leave it to his best friends to make the dumbest possible remark about his leaving for the date.

“Seeya, have fun,” Hyungwon grinned, the corners of his lips curving up like a mischievous kitten who was up to absolutely nothing good. It made Kihyun want to punch him in the face (except, in all ways friendly, because that was just how they worked). “Come back as the sexiest taken grandmother in the world.”

Kihyun immediately scowled as he fixed his tie, grumbling, “I’ll disown you when I come back.”

 

 

 

The restaurant was fancy—posh, with gold trim on practically everything in the room, and a solid air of business-casual and a simple note of romance, with the way the sweet scent of jasmine wafted from candles lit all over the room. He couldn’t deny that his best friend really did have nice taste. Hyungwon had been in charge of setting up the entire date, from choosing the two parties to choosing the venue and arranging the reservations at the date venue. Kihyun had been told (by Minhyuk) that Hyungwon made the reservation at the same restaurant which he and Hyunwoo had their first date at. Kihyun thought the gesture was cute.

It was obvious in every little thing about the date venue that Hyungwon really put a lot of thought into it. And Kihyun would never say it aloud, but he might have regretted not going, when Hyungwon put so much effort into trying to make it the perfect date. It wasn’t a secret in their circle of friends that Hyungwon was always the one who was concerned that Kihyun would never find someone who was deserving of loving someone like his best friend.

After speaking to the kind waiter at the front desk, checking in with the reservation under Hyungwon’s name, Kihyun was seated in a booth in a private section of the restaurant. The grey-haired man found himself childishly busy with playing with the candle on the table he’d been seated at, unsure of what to do with himself, after arriving early. It had been reasonable when Changkyun proposed that he arrived early, but now that he was there, it didn’t seem like there was very much that he could do while he waited.

He definitely didn’t want to be the type of date who was seen playing on his phone from the very second that his date walked into the room. Surely, that wouldn’t be the best of impressions. But, then again, _was seeing a twenty-seven year old man staring blankly into a candle very good of an impression, anyway?_

It was too much thought for making an impression. If his date liked him, then he’d like him. That was the bottom line of it and he really didn’t think there was very much that he needed to do to make a _better_ impression.

He watched as the flame flickered in its glass container. And, all in truth, he willed for the date to go smoothly. If everything went well, then he’d have a date for Hyungwon’s party and maybe a companion for a little bit longer. If everything went to shit, then maybe they could pretend to like one another for the duration of the party. He didn’t have enough time to invest into finding another date, anyway.

And he was against the idea of blowing off Hyungwon on a party that the younger man had been planning since early November. Half-listening to his best friend gush about the party was more than enough to make him believe that Hyungwon put enough effort into the event that he needed to (at the very least) show up.

Kihyun’s mind wandered to his date.

 _A friend of Hyunwoo had to be someone who was kind—_ that was simply the type of person that Hyunwoo seemed to attract. Everyone that he knew seemed to be a person with a warm heart. Even Kihyun’s best friend instinct couldn’t deny that Chae Hyungwon also fell into the category of someone who was kind, somewhere underneath that whole facade where he liked to pretend that he really didn’t care all that much for his best friend.

Kihyun couldn’t deny his nerves, but he also couldn’t deny the fact that he was somewhat excited to meet his date for the night. If it turned into something more than just a single night, then wouldn’t it turn out to be amazing? A whole relationship built up off of chance—because a friend decided that his party had to involve dates. There was something romantic about the aspect of everything being built up on sheer chance to Kihyun.

His train of thought was taken away from him when the chair in front of him was pulled out.

Dark eyes were drawn to look up at the person who had interrupted his deep thought. He looked up to see a blond haired man standing next to the same waiter who had seated Kihyun.

Kihyun’s initial impression was that he was undeniably handsome. He was dressed in a clean, fitted grey suit and Kihyun’s eyes couldn’t help but brighten when they subconsciously moved across his figure. The blond man’s hair was pushed back out of his eyes, revealing his forehead and soft eyebrows. There was a flash of familiarity in Kihyun’s mind when their eyes met, but he couldn’t seem to actually pinpoint where he might have seen the man sitting across from him before. An awkward silence shrouded them as they stared at one another, the other man seemingly catching recognition in Kihyun’s eyes, too.

There was a hesitation between them, eyes searching one another’s for something that neither of them were able to understand. The familiarity was a grasp in the dark for Kihyun, and he drew absolutely nothing from his mind.

The man’s voice was low and seemed to echo in Kihyun’s ears when he visibly threw his caution to the wind and opened his mouth to inquiry, softly, _“Yoo Kihyun?”_

Surprise coloured Kihyun’s eyes and his brows shot up, “… yes,” he answered, blinking rapidly. He still couldn’t pinpoint where he’d seen the other man before, but the inquiry of his full name was clear evidence that they knew one another, “That’s me…”

The confirmation was more than enough to have his date’s expression brighten. A small smile danced across the blond’s face. Again, that flash of familiarity crossed Kihyun’s mind, but he couldn’t pinpoint it. To a degree, it frustrated him, because he was certain that he could figure it out.

He leaned against the table, folding his arms over one another—there was a glimmer in his eyes that told Kihyun he was amused. Kihyun’s eyes darted to where his toned arms seemed to press against the fabric of his clothes, before he fixed his eyes back to his date’s eyes. The man spoke, “You don’t recognize me, do you?”

Kihyun cleared his throat, sheepishly shaking his head.

“That’s okay,” he replied, soft chuckle leaving his lips again. “It’s been more than seven years. I don’t blame you.”

 _More than seven years?_ Kihyun looked up again, studying the blond’s face for a moment. _At an estimate, seven years ago was when he was still in high school up until the time when he chose to do his military service, early._

Life had changed when he’d gone to university—he could hardly remember anything from back in high school. Their eyes met and there was a spark that Kihyun suddenly couldn’t mistake—a familiar feeling returning to him from so many years ago. Somehow, it felt a little bit like coming home after a long time—the familiarity was comfortable. Remembering someone from that long ago was nothing short of a miracle, but, he needed to confirm his thoughts.

“… Please, correct me if I’m wrong, but…” he started. The other man nodded his head.

“You’re _probably_ right, but yes, continue,” he quipped, cheekily.

Kihyun cleared his throat, shifting his eyes and praying that he wasn’t making a mistake with his assumptions. It would be terribly embarrassing to say the least, but Kihyun only had one vivid memory of someone like this. _This_ being the soft features on a striking profile and the softest-looking, plush lips (which, felt a million times better than he could possibly imagine, if he tried his best to recall it in a memory); this being striking eyes which could keep his attention for _hours_. “… Are you, by chance, Shin Hoseok?”

The light in the blond’s eyes seemed to ignite a brighter light.

“Bingo,” the blond-haired man, _Hoseok_ , confirmed with a quiet chuckle. “Still a smart cookie, aren’t you?”

Kihyun felt himself relax—relief flooding him before something else shrouded him. Something that he couldn’t seem to put a name to. The grey-haired man studied his date’s face for a moment, before he found coherent words.

 _“You’re blonde,”_ he said, dumbly. Hoseok chuckled, nodding his head.

“Yes, I am, I got it done just before I graduated university and I decided I kind of liked it,” he replied, eyes seemingly twinkling under the light in the restaurant. Kihyun couldn’t help but wonder if he was still looking at Hoseok through rose-coloured lenses, after all of these years. “I’ve kept it until now.”

“You look good,” he managed. Hoseok’s features softened into a sweet smile and he chuckled softly.

“Thank you. And you look as beautiful as ever,” he told him, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a sweet smile. Kihyun felt a slight jolt in his chest at the words and his cheeks flushed faintly, hands folding into his lap. “The spitting image of the gorgeous boy I remember from high school, simply more elegant and mature now.”

“You haven’t changed at all,” Kihyun remarked, cheeks red. “Still smooth as ever, I see.”

Hoseok laughed at that. “You make it easy for me,” he answered. “I still mean everything I say.”

“You’re really too much,” Kihyun answered, as he rested his cheek in his hand and kept his eyes shyly downcast.

 _Shin Hoseok was a part of his past that no one in his current life seemed to know about._ He hadn’t spoken about him to his friends whom he’d met in university. Back in high school, when Kihyun was still trying to learn about himself, there had been a time when practice for the basketball team ran a little later and he was caught up in the locker room until everyone else was gone. By chance, a single day after his school had won the National Championships, he found himself pressed against the lockers and kissed by one of his teammates. That one day lead into so much more.

Hyungwon knew of a boy whom he’d fooled around with in high school, but Hyungwon hadn’t the slightest idea that he was the reason that they were meeting again, after all this time. _What a small world,_ Kihyun thought.

The most vivid memory of Hoseok that Kihyun could recall was the day after their graduation, when they stood on the school rooftop and Hoseok had presented him with a bouquet of flowers to congratulate him on his graduation. It was a silly gesture, because they’d graduated together, but sweet nonetheless. Kihyun had kissed him, having not prepared anything else to congratulate Hoseok on his own graduation. That day, they’d wished one another happy paths in life and bid one another farewell ( _“If I ever meet you again, maybe we can have more than what we have now. But for now, we have life in our way, so I won’t tell you about how much I adore you,”_ Hoseok had told him).

“So, how are you still single?” Hoseok asked, playfully eying him. “Weren’t you the one voted as most likely to get married first in our graduating year?”

Kihyun rolled his eyes. There was something about talking to Hoseok that was comfortable. Even after all the years, it still felt comfortable to talk to Hoseok—even after all this time, it felt like he was speaking to someone whom he’d just spoken to yesterday.

“Everyone in our graduating year didn’t know what they were talking about,” Kihyun replied, frowning. “I haven’t even held someone’s hand since we graduated. Unless we’re talking about Hyungwon—I hold Hyungwon’s hand when I have to tell him that he’s about to do something stupid and he shouldn’t do it.”

Hoseok laughed at that.

“What did they vote you as?” Kihyun asked, “Did that come true?”

A small smile danced across Hoseok’s lips, his eyes twinkling happily.

“They were right for me,” he told him. “I was voted as most likely to become a successful entrepreneur.”

“You’re impressive,” Kihyun remarked. “As always.”

Hoseok laughed, “But, is it quite as impressive as when you hit that half-court shot and saved our asses at the National Championships in high school?”

_(That had been the game that lead to Hoseok pressing him against the lockers and kissing the life out of him.)_

Kihyun rolled his eyes, “No one believes me when I tell that story, so I’d say that it’s definitely more impressive.”

And Hoseok’s laughter proved to be as addictive as he remembered it being.

Somehow, throughout the night, Kihyun’s hand found itself interlaced with Hoseok’s fingers on the table as they conversed over their meal. Meeting Hoseok instead of a complete stranger felt like it was ruining the whole aspect of a blind date, because when the metaphorical blindfolds were taken off, he knew so much about the man sitting in front of him. Catching up on their lives was easy, because before they were anything else, they were friends.

The hours passed easily when he was with Hoseok. Before they could even register how much time had passed by, it was time for them to both return to their respective homes. Hoseok took the time to grab Kihyun’s jacket for him and spoke to him as they dressed one another in the foyer of the virtually empty restaurant.

“Do you remember what I told you when we graduated?” Hoseok asked him, fixing Kihyun’s scarf and smiling at him. Kihyun let him adjust his clothing, though he knew that Hoseok was simply looking for excuses to touch him.

“What did you tell me?” he asked, softly. “Which thing are we talking about?”

Hoseok chuckled, “I meant it, you know. When I told you that I wouldn’t tell you how much I adored you, then, because we had too much in our way and I didn’t think we could make it, then.”

Kihyun’s brows raised and his fingers moved to halt Hoseok’s fingers from relentlessly fixing his scarf.

Softly, he asked, “What are you trying to say?”

 _“Well,”_ Hoseok’s expression turned shy (and it’s the cutest thing Kihyun’s ever laid his eyes on) and he linked his fingers with Kihyun’s. “I think I’m saying: if you’ll let me, I’d really like for this date to become something more, because I still adore you like I did when we were back in high school. I think I’m saying that these past hours with you proved to me that I never really got over _Yoo Kihyun_ like I thought I did.”

Hoseok took a breath.

“So, if you’d let me, I’m asking for your permission to let me get to know you all over again and maybe… we can let _us_ become a thing for real, this time.”

  


 

(Changkyun turned into the only person who knew of his relationship with Hoseok, prior to the Christmas party, because he found himself spilling everything to his roommate excitedly, that night. Changkyun watched Kihyun ramble with a soft smile, because he was happy for the older man.

And no one told Kihyun that Hyungwon’s party involved a gift exchange. But, he’d never forget the priceless look on Hyungwon’s face when the couples were handing their gifts over to one another and Kihyun stared blankly at Hoseok, until the older man pulled him into his lap with strong arms, and knocked their foreheads together.

“It’s okay if you don’t have a gift for me,” Hoseok told him, softly, dark eyes fondly gazing at him. “You’re the greatest gift I could have ever asked for.”)

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do something nice for the holidays, because my final exams are finally over! So, if everything goes well—and according to plan—then, I’ll be flooding the tags for the next twelve days.
> 
> As per usual, you can find me on Twitter @yuseokki.


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